


Nevermore

by Citadel_of_my_thoughts



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-06
Updated: 2019-04-06
Packaged: 2020-01-05 15:22:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18368759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Citadel_of_my_thoughts/pseuds/Citadel_of_my_thoughts
Summary: A retelling of the most important fight of Yang and Blake's young lives. Told from Yang's point of view.





	Nevermore

“ _Yang? What’s going on?_ ” buzzed Ruby’s voice in my ear.

“I..don’t know.” I say as I look worriedly at the comm tower.

“ _Dammit, Blake should have been in and out by now.”_

Minutes pass and still nothing and I hear the chatter between Weiss and Ruby. The radar is still up. I hear Oscar yell “What do we do?”

“Keep the ship in one piece.” I tell them as I mount my bike. A knot of worry forming in my stomach. Here’s hoping they can handle things without me, because there is no way I’m waiting any longer.

As I head toward the tower I hear the faint but unmistakable sound of gunfire even over the engine noise and that knot in my stomach becomes even tighter. “Blake wouldn’t have engaged the Atlas guards. She’s too smart for that.” I stop Bumblebee’s engine for a moment to listen and hear the faint sound of combat, but unless these woods are playing tricks with my hearing, they’re not coming from the tower anymore.

“If it’s not the guards, then….Oh no. No no no no.”

The knot in my stomach turns to ice.

I pick up on the general direction the sounds are coming from and gun the bike.

“Come on, faster!” I almost scream. My white-knuckled grip on the handlebar is the only thing keeping my hand from shaking from stress and worry. “If it’s Adam, then she doesn’t have a chance. She’s good, one of the best but he’s a lunatic and out for blood. Dammit, which way? I didn’t just get her back in order to lose her again!”

Then a strange sense of calm washed over me. Somehow I knew, without a doubt, where she was. I knew she was still alive and still fighting. I pushed my bike to the limit and headed straight for the cliff and I heard, even though there was no way for me to actually hear it.  
  
“I’m not alone.”

As I launch off the cliff I see everything in supernatural clarity. I see Blake, obviously hurt and exhausted but defiant. I see Adam with his dammed sword out. I leap off the bike and I can’t help but have a moment of satisfaction as I hear it careen into him.  
  
As I land, I hear Adam snarl “You” and I fire off a shot to keep him off balance.

“Yang! Ughhhh.” I see Blake clutch her side and drop to her knees.

My voice doesn’t betray the white-hot rage that’s starting to build. “It’s ok, catch your breath for a second. I can hold him off.”

“She’s right, Blake. It’s ok. We have unfinished business.”

I feel my jaw clench at the sound of his voice. I’m facing my literal nightmare again.

“ _You gotta keep your emotions in check, keep a level head and think before you act._ ” My father’s words drift into my mind and I take a deep, cleansing breath.

A few seconds pass and then he’s all over me. Good thing I’m built to take this kind of punishment. I try to counter and I do land a few good blows and then I’m hit with some kind of energy blast. Blake yells that his semblance is like mine in that he can absorb energy from attacks and send it back but through his sword instead of his body.

Dammit, here we go again. I had no idea this bastard was so fast. I’m holding my own but I’m not sure for how long and if I go down, then Blake…

_No._

_It’s not gonna happen._

 I throw another punch and he counters with that blasted sword again and I’m thrown backwards toward Blake. We share a glance at each other. I hope I don’t look as scared and tired as she does and my heart twists in my chest. This seems to infuriate Adam and I hear Blake’s agonized scream “Yang!” just as I’m hit with another, bigger energy blast. I barely get my mechanical arm up in time to shield my eyes and I’m almost pushed off the cliffside from the force of it.

I’m trying to keep my cool, as much for Blake’s benefit as my own.

“Leave. Us. Alone. This is your last chance.” and I surprise myself by saying it without a tremor in my voice but dammit my hand won’t stop shaking. As much as I try to suppress the memories they still hover at the edges of my mind.

I see the monster smile. “Heh. Do you really believe that? Or are you just trying to scare me away so you won’t have to die trying to protect her?”

_I would. I would in a heartbeat._

I also really want to kick his teeth in and I feel my self-control slipping. Then I feel a light touch on my trembling hand as Blake takes it in her own.

“She’s not protecting me, Adam”

I turn to look at her and she meets my gaze.

“And I’m not protecting her. We’re protecting each other.”

In the middle of all my fear and anger I’m hit by a wave of desperate hope and we turn, hand-in-hand toward him in defiance.

Then I hear his sneering voice. “You knew you couldn’t win two on one at Haven, what makes you so sure you can win now?”

“I don’t have a choice. I have people who actually care about me.”

_You have no idea how much._

“And I promised I’d never leave them again.”

_Whatever gods exist. Please let us get through this. Please._

Almost as in answer I feel Blake’s grip tighten.

“So I’m not dying now.”

I’m so proud of her and despite myself I smile.

“Y’know she made a promise to me once. That she’d always be at _my_ side. Ha, and you can see how well she’s kept it.”

_Stay calm, Yang. Until it’s time not to._

“Did she make that promise to you, or to the person you were pretending to be?”

“So, I just wasn’t good enough for you?”

Blake shook her head in frustration and anger. “You know it’s so much more than that.”

_Yeah, like mental and physical torture, murder and terrorism. He’s honestly worse than the grimm, at least they’re just slaves to their nature. He’s chosen to be like this._

“I know you’ve made your choice and I’ve made mine.”

I swallow my fear. _I..we’ve got to do this. We’ll never be free of this waking nightmare if we don’t._

Blake and I reluctantly separate. We’re now literally in a fight for our lives.

As much as I despise him, he’s a damn good fighter and between the two of us we’re just holding our own. Then I see Blake backflip over to grab part of Gambol Shroud and hurl it at Adam who knocks it back in her direction. I rush to grab it and swing her around using the ribbon in a variation of our old maneuver. He blocks her strike and, dammit! He’s used his semblance again throwing Blake against the cliff face. I see her aura break and then she slides off the edge.

“Blake!” I yell as I see her grab the edge and hold on but I don’t have a chance to help her.

“Moment of truth, Yang.” he sneers. “Do you think you’re faster than you were at Beacon?”

Those words hit me harder than any of his attacks and I almost freeze. Then an image of beautiful amber eyes float to the surface of my mind. I barely hear him say “Me neither.” as he attacks.

“Your aura is bound to be running low.” he mocks but my attention isn’t on his words. It’s on Blake. I see her scaling the cliff face with all her skill and strength and I attempt to just dodge his blows. No sense in giving him a power boost if I can help it.

“ _I just have to keep him distracted for a little bit longer. Play it smart, Yang. There’s always another way around the problem.”_

“What does she even see in you!”

“ _Damned if I know, but I hope I get a chance to find out.”_

His next attack knocks me to the ground but I see Blake leaping to the other side of the cliff and I get what she’s doing.

“You’re just a coward like her!” he shrieks in rage as I get to my feet.

“ _That’s it! I’ve had enough!”_ and I feel the rush of heat as I unleash my semblance just as he hurls another energy blast at me.

Through the cloud of dust I can see his blade arcing down toward me. In supreme irony I grab it with an arm that I wouldn’t have if it wasn’t for him and when the dust clears I see his astonished face.

“Gotcha” and I ram my fist into his midsection and hear a satisfying crunch as he’s hurled backward and carves a trench in the ground with the impact. His aura crackles and vanishes.

As he stands he reaches for his now empty scabbard and looks panicked when he realizes his sword is gone.

“I may not be faster but I’m smarter.” and I hurl his sword off the cliff.

I hear him yell “NO!” as he rushes to grab it, far, far too late and then Blake springs up and hits him with a devastating uppercut, he stumbles across the remains of Gambol Shroud and Blake sees them at the same time.

“ _Oh no. No, you’re not going to do it again, you bastard!”_

Thankfully Blake is faster and grabs one portion of the broken blade as I scoop up the other with my artificial hand.

_I guess there is only one way this was going to end._

We both plunge our blades into Adam’s chest and hear a soft “Oh.”

Then we watch as he stumbles toward the cliff, falls to his knees, takes one last breath and plunges off the cliff into the water below.

Blake collapses in heart wrenching sobs and I rush to her side and take her into my arms.

“I..I’m not going to break my promise. I swear!”

All this and that is the first thing she says. She almost died and she’s worried about reassuring me. I barely trust myself to speak.

“I know you won’t” I say as I gently cup her beautiful face in my hands and I feel her hands gripping mine as our foreheads touch. I let her get all the stress and pent up sadness and rage out of her system before gently helping her up.

“C’mon. We need to get back to the team. There’s no telling how much trouble they’ve gotten into without us.”

Blake ventured a weak smile at that as she took my hand and we started running toward the rendezvous.

“Yang? Can I ask you something?”

“Anything.”

“How did you know where I was? I could hear your bike, but how could you possibly hear what was going on below you?”

I paused. “Do you remember how Jinn told us about Ozma and Salem meeting for the first time after his reincarnation and how they knew without a doubt who each other were? The only thing I can think of is that is was something like that. ”

“Yeah? But...oh.” and I could see a blush forming on her cheeks.

“I think we’ve got a lot to talk about later but for now, I’m just happy you’re free of him.”

“ _We’re_ free of him.” and she squeezed my hand even harder and looked up at me, eyes glistening with tears but not tears of sorrow.

 

_Freedom is finally here._


End file.
